His family issued a statement saying: "We are so proud of Jamie being a Mercian soldier. Jamie is loved by his dad Dave, mum Sue and his close family and friends."

Paying tribute to the soldier, Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Phil Kimber described him as "a real character, a totally professional soldier and a great friend to many".

He said: "Lance Corporal Webb was exactly the type of man you wanted around. Always with a smile on his face, always willing to engage in some witty and mischievous banter, he really did lift the morale of all around him.

"He was also an outstanding professional; bright, engaging and hugely talented. He had an obvious gift for intelligence work, which ensured he was at the heart of all that his company did on this tour.

"Despite his relatively junior rank he had a huge amount of operational experience having deployed to Northern Ireland, Iraq, and twice to Afghanistan. No matter what else he did, he was an infantry lance corporal at heart and as such he was a talented and inspirational junior commander. Lance Corporal Webb was surrounded by his friends when he was injured.

"These friends and all in 1 Mercian Battlegroup will miss him terribly. We have lost a great soldier and a great friend. Despite our grief we are acutely aware of the indescribable loss his family will now be feeling and it is his family that our thoughts and prayers are now with."

Platoon commander Lieutenant Jack Brierley said: "For a man small in stature, he had a bigger personality than anyone I have ever met. Through the employment of his unique and somewhat left-of-field sense of humour, he made sure that if you were near him, you had a smile on your face."

L/Cpl Webb's death takes to 441 the number of UK service members who have lost their lives since operations in Afghanistan began in October 2001 and the third to die so far in 2013.